


Bonds in winter

by orpheusheart



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 19:53:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13371921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orpheusheart/pseuds/orpheusheart
Summary: Kotobuki Reiji considered himself a simple man at heart.In which Quartet Night bond, slowly but surely.





	Bonds in winter

**Author's Note:**

> by Kitska for Kisaki, for the Utapri fic exchange~
> 
> Honestly I have not written for so long that my skills have gone rusty, so I apologise for any weirdness in this fic. Hope you enjoy it!

Kotobuki Reiji considered himself a simple man at heart. If he liked something, he would say so; there was no need to make it so complicated, or so he thought.

The other three members of Quartet Night beg to differ, especially when it came to matters involving their relationship as an idol unit. Whatever idea Reiji cooked up was immediately shot down by them, without giving the eldest a chance to explain.

The penthouse idea took Reiji a month to convince them, especially Kurosaki Ranmaru, who grumbled about leaving the (fairly comfortable and convenient) Saotome Mansion for someplace else. Reiji had to bribe Ranmaru with the steakhouse that was just around the corner; thankfully Mikaze Ai and Camus were easier to persuade, and the four of them lived fairly well for the next couple of months.

Winter was setting in soon and, aside from the occasional bickering between Ranmaru and Camus, everything seemed to be going well, until the internal heating died.

Ai was the first to notice it.

"The temperature seems a little cooler than usual..." he said to no one in particular, looking up from the magazine he was reading. "Isn't it a little too early for the onset of winter?"

Ranmaru was listlessly channel surfing, not caring to turn to Ai as he remarked, "Climate change maybe. They said Tokyo's gonna be colder than usual, and maybe snowfall a few centimeters thick soon."

"Aah, I see." Ai nodded, closing his eyes. "I will take note of it then."

He opened his eyes again, wide this time. "Snow. I haven't seen snow."

Ranmaru blinked. "Not even once?"

"Since I was... created, not once." Ai blinked and stared outside the window. "Will it actually snow?"

Shrugging, Ranmaru went back to channel surfing. "Dunno. Possibly."

At that moment Reiji burst in, dragging a disgruntled Camus behind him. " _Tadaimacchocho~_ Ai-ai, Ran-ran, we got treats for you~"

"Camus wrestled his arm from Reiji's grasp, grunting in annoyance before heading to his room. "If any of you peasants decide to disturb me, there will be no mercy," he growled, slamming his door shut.

"Aww, Myu-chan's grumpy cos they ran out of his favourite condensed milk," Reiji explained, shivering a little as he took off his coat after placing the grocery bags on the bar counter. "Hmm is it just me or is it colder in here?"

"Climate change," Ai replied, while Ranmaru stopped channel surfing to take a nap. Reiji paused, then shrugged got to work restocking their pantry.

\---

It was when Ranmaru awoke in the dead of the night with a chill and a bout of sneezing that he realised something was wrong in the penthouse. Quickly he went to check on the thermostat, then groaned. "Fuck this..."

He debated waking the others up - Camus was probably used to this temperature and would just tell Ranmaru off, meanwhile Ai would not wake up once he was offline. That left Reiji, and Ranmaru grumbled again. "Shit..."

Trudging over to Reiji's bedroom, he banged loudly on the door, shivering under the jacket he hastily put on. Reiji only answered after Ranmaru yelled for him in between a sneeze, sleepily rubbing his eyes. "What's up Ran-ran?"

"Fucking heating broke..." he grunted, pushing his way into Reiji's room and curling up on his bed without a care. "Your room is warmer than mine, damnit," he mumbled, then fell asleep promptly.

Reiji sighed, then smiled fondly at his teammate. He was not going to reject a cute Ranmaru, not when the other crawled into his bed willingly. Yawning, he joined him in slumber, making sure there was enough space for the both of them.

\---

Morning came, and Reiji immediately called for a technician once he had his morning coffee, chatting amicably with the person on the other line. Camus was already out for his assignment - a morning talkshow with Cecil about their respective cultures - while Ai was staring out of the window, with Ranmaru napping on his lap.

Ai turned to Reiji when the latter finally hung up, head tilted curiously. "When will the technician come in?"

"This afternoon. He's gonna see if he can fix it by tonight," Reiji replied, finishing up his coffee and stretching. "Meanwhile, I'm gonna go out for a bit and get some breakfast before I go for my job. Make sure Ran-ran doesn't miss his appointment, Ai-ai."

"Of course." Ai nodded, then continued staring out the window. "WIll it snow today?"

Reiji paused, then laughed. "Probably not today. It's still November, and only our internal heating is broken. Weather outside is still too warm for snow."

"Oh." Ai absently petted Ranmaru's grey locks, eyes still looking far away. "I hope it will snow, at the very least."

\---

December came and Christmas loomed around the corner. Even after the heating was fixed, Ranmaru took to napping in Reiji's bed more, claiming it was 'fucking warmer than the rest of the house'. Reiji being Reiji allowed it with a chuckle; there was no dissuading Ranmaru once he set his mind on something. Camus had returned to the Silk Palace and will only return on Christmas Eve, while Ai watched and waited by the window for snow whenever he can, which, for Reiji, seemed a little unlike the youngest member of QuarNi.

And then it happened - it _snowed_ on Christmas Day.

Reiji joked about how Camus brought snow with him when he flew back to Japan, when the four of them gathered at the Saotome Mansion with ST☆RISH and HE★VENS for a Christmas party. (it was Otoya's idea to invite them, which was a good thing - all hostility between Shining Agency and Raging Productions had simmered down after the Triple-S, and as friendly rivals, good relationships needed to be maintained).

Ai's eyes widened in wonder as he watched the falling snow pile up against the windows, and he turned to Reiji. "Reiji, it's snowing," he remarked, pouting a little when Reiji ruffled his hair in response.

"Must be the Christmas magic, plus Myu-chan's return," he laughed, pulling Ai up by the arm. "Let's go out and see the snow up close!"

"O-oh." Ai allowed himself to be dragged outside the mansion doors and into the courtyard, marvelling at the cold and crisp air as white floated down all around him. Meanwhile Reiji stood silently by his side, watching Ai but not looking at him.

"Oh, so this is what snow is like..."

Warm brown-grey eyes grew misty as Reiji sighed. Bittersweet memories from the past resurfaced in his mind, and he shook his head and closed his eyes, willing himself not to think about them.

"Reiji...?"

It was all in the past. _He_ 's gone, and no matter how similar looking Ai was to _him_ , it was not the same. It would never be the same. 

"Reiji, are you ok?"

"Oi, idiot!"

Reiji snapped out of his thoughts when a hard snowball smacked right against his nose, and he whined loudly while rubbing his reddened nose. "W-whaa?!"

He whined again when Ranmaru threw another snowball at him, much to his despair. How could he have missed the bassist coming outside and packing a firm snowball to throw at him?

"Ran-ran _hidoooooi_!" he cried out, dodging the next snowball, this time thrown by Ai. "Ai-ai too! Why is everyone bullying me?!"

"Because you're a pain in the ass," Camus remarked from the doorway, a frown etched in his eyebrows. "Come inside now, the gift exchange is beginning soon. Ittoki wants everyone present before it can officially commence." 

Immediately Reiji's melancholic mood disappeared, and he grinned as he tugged Ranmaru and Ai back into the mansion. "Ok ok~ Let's go let's go~"

\---

It was New Year's Eve when Reiji found himself trapped in between a snoring Ranmaru and a snooze-mode Ai, with Camus judging him silently from across the room. The heating had broken down in the penthouse again, and in a bid to save every last bit of heat they can manage while they wait for the technician to arrive, all four of them took refuge in Reiji's room. Being used to low temperatures, Camus had no problem with the cold; Ranmaru and Ai however, bundled up in their thickest clothing, and were casually using a dumbfounded Reiji as their main heat source.

"I... suppose I don't have a say in this?" Reiji questioned, once he realised his two teammates were not going to wake up anytime soon.

"Hn."

Reiji sighed. Camus was no help at all. Ok he was a little bit of help when he called the technician, but that was about it.

"Oh well, at least I get to spend the New Year's with my loveable family."

"Don't lump me in with the likes of you."

"It is only until the heating is fixed."

"The only family I acknowledge is the Queen."

Reiji whined. "Guys I thought you were asleep!!" He tried to wriggle out, but Ranmaru and Ai were heavy collectively, and in the end the brunet gave up and sighed. "...Happy New Year to us."

"... Ah."

"Happy New Year."

"Hn."


End file.
